On 21/11/2007 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:>On 20/11/2007 Capt_mulch wrote:>>This is starting to sound good. What is the rock type??>>I think it is some sort of metamorphosed siltstone. Am seeking confirmation>from a learned mate. Will give further feedback when available.

Sent ...

G'day (snip),

If it is not too much trouble could you please tell me what kind of rock the escarpment in Nangar National Park consists of, as I have no access to a geological map of that area (snip).

Nangar is between Forbes (Eugowra) and Orange and is about 4km South of that road.
The escarpment is horseshoe shaped and faces Nth.

I have climbed there and the rock is orange coloured, and quite compact with fine grain size but tends to split in sharp flakes/slithers. Larger blocks that have become detached are quite angular in appearance. I have also observed 'ripple sandstone' (fossilised wave action), on the undersides of overhang/roofs on the cliff-face.
I am guessing it is some sort of metamorphosed mud/siltstone ?

Any general information you can provide would be appreciated.

Regards,
...

>Received ...

Greetings

The Geology map is BATHURST 1:250000 GEOLOGY SHEET SI55-8.

The rock at the escarpment is:
Quartz sandstone, Siltstone, Shale, Minor Conglomerate of the Mandagery Formation of Harvey Group of Upper Devonian age - 362 Million years.

The formation may be slightly 'contact metamorphosed' due to nearby volcanic activity.

The interesting part is that the sequence have been 'Folded" and 'Overturned' due to tectonic activity. therefore at the escarpment you see the sediments 'up-side-down' - that explains the existance of your observed ripple marks on the underside of overhangs on the cliff face.

On 23/11/2007 climberman wrote:> Geeze you Canberra climbers must>be desperate for sandstone to go to Nerriga.

Capt_Mulch is the only Canberra climber to have posted on this thread and he hasn't been to Nerriga. I am a Goulburn climber (the only one as far as I know) and I have been to Nerriga a few times and like it. It has a nice setting, easy access, good camping, fishing, swimming, a pub close by and the general store makes the biggest hamburgers in the southern hemisphere. It also has a hell of a lot of untouched rock and opportunities for exploration which some climbers, such as myself, value.

Sure, you can just keep driving, end up in Nowra and flog yourself all weekend at an overbolted outdoor gym if that takes your fancy. This is actually what a hell of a lot of Canberra climbers do. Good luck to them. Some 'climbers' don't even go that far. They just pull plastic!

I, however, will continue to show my 'desperation' by searching for places like Nerriga, The Crag That Doesn't Exist, Purnoo and, once it cools down again, Nangar.

In the end , climbing is all a matter of preference and, in the scheme of things, it's not really very important at all.

Didn't mean to be rude.... but having lived in Sinny or the Blueys, and even in W'gong having to drive past The Big K, local crags or Nowra simply to get to Nerriga, I'd really only go for the 'I haven't been to that crag yet' experience. Which is a nice experience.

I guess some climbers like putting up new routes and others are satisfied with just repeating routes. Canberra climbers who do want to put up new routes don't have much to work with. There isn't a lot of scope for new routes in the ACT and new bolting tends to be dealt with pretty harshly. Even rebolting tends to be dealt with quite harshly, unless you go through the official channels of the CCA.

Nerriga is the closest sandstone area. The established climbs there are all pretty close to the road. For those willing to walk a bit, there is a shit load of undeveloped rock out there waiting to be climbed.

I've lived in Sydney, the Blueys and Canberra and they all have good climbing but next time you go to a place like Bowens Creek in the Blueys or Mt K in Sydney or Mt Cooree in the ACT or this place, spare a thought for the developers, who decide "Bugger it! I'm not going to Piddington or Thompsons Point this weekend. I'm going to go and check out blah blah cliffs and see if they are any good" and end up putting up routes and sorting out access and drawing up topos, etc, etc.

Afterall , remember, when it was first discovered, Nowra was written off as a choss pile too.

On 24/11/2007 climberman wrote:>ww, I think we would enjoy climbing together.

We should sometime. I look forward to it..

I have some very good friends who live in Corrimal, who I haven't seen for ages. They have been hassling me to come up for a visit. Perhaps I could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, and organise to visit them and go climbing the next day with you.

I've only been to the Big K once in 1992. It could be a good opportunity for you to sandbag me on some sandy nasties..

On 16/04/2015 Superstu wrote:>On 16/04/2015 wallwombat wrote:>>Old thread but I managed to find another photo of the cliffs at Nangar>>>Nice sandstone with easy access, some onion flaking that will clean up>nicely with a brush and traffic. Excellent protection in those wide cracks.>>>Not sure about the cliffs high up in the background tho...

That is a good pic which I think I have seen in a tourist brochure a while back.

It is not the greatest as a guidebook topo, however in the absence of any other info, the resolution of it as posted on this thread is sufficient that I will try and mark up a copy of it with the lines that I know have been done, ... except that it misses out* on the Western and Eastern Tiers...
:-(

(*What is shown is the tallest Southern rampart, in effect the bottom of the 'U' of the continuous horseshoe, due tele-photo is taken from the Eugowra-Orange road to the north).